Sherry Turkle

Sherry Turkle (born June 18, 1948) is an American sociologist. She is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained a BA in social studies and later a PhD in sociology and personality psychology at Harvard University. She now focuses her research on psychoanalysis and human-technology interaction. She has written several books focusing on the psychology of human relationships with technology, especially in the realm of how people relate to computational objects[clarification needed]. Her memoir 'Empathy Diaries' received excellent critical reviews.[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry_Turkle

• In The Second Self (1984), Turkle defines the computer as more than just a tool, but part of our everyday personal and psychological lives. She looks at how computers affect the way we look at ourselves and our relationships with others, claiming that technology defines the way we think and act. Turkle's book allows us to view and reevaluate our own relationships with technology.
• In Life on the Screen (1995), Turkle presents a study of how people's use of the computer has evolved over time, and the profound effect that this machine has on its users. The computer, which connects millions of people across the world together, is changing the way we think and see ourselves. Although it was originally intended to serve as a tool to help us to write and communicate with others, it has more recently transformed into a means of providing us with virtual worlds which we can step into and interact with other people. The book discusses how our everyday interactions with computers affect our minds and the way we think about ourselves. In particular, interacting with these virtual worlds, especially through language, can shift a unitary sense of self into one with a multiplicity of identities.[9]
• In Alone Together (2011), Turkle explores how technology is changing the way we communicate. In particular, Turkle raises concerns about the way in which genuine, organic social interactions become degraded through constant exposure to illusory meaningful exchanges with artificial intelligence. Underlying Turkle's central argument is the fact that the technological developments which have most contributed to the rise of inter-connectivity have at the same time bolstered a sense of alienation between people. The alienation involves links between social networks favouring those of proper conversations.
• Reclaiming Conversation and The Power of Talk in A Digital Age (2015) is Turkle's examination of evolving interpersonal and intrapersonal communications,. In the preamble, Turkle cites Henry David Thoreau's Walden as providing guidance for the structure of the book: "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."[14] This book is thus divided into three general parts: a single chair for intrapersonal communication, two chairs concerning the importance of conversations in friendships, families and romances, and three chairs for interpersonal communication such as in school, work, and politics.[15] Turkle gathered data from schools, companies, families, and articulates the statistical and psychoanalytic barriers that have forced users to "sacrifice conversation for mere connection".[16] This trade-off in interwoven intimacies and apps ultimately withholds the necessary "face-to-face experiences that are needed for generating authentic connection".[17]The capacity to interact on a personal or private basis is the cornerstone to empathy, and Turkle argues that loneliness is also essential to this.